I changed my blog layout, because my posts have been ridiculously long and they look less intimidating when they have more room to stretch out.
Haha, hope you like it.
p.s. If the yellow is obnoxious let me know. I can't decide.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Day 2
Another morning; another regimen of pills. I’ve been feeling super healthy so far, which is impressive considering I thought I would be struck with plague the second I so much as licked some foreign piece of food. Hypochondriac much? Haha, maybe, but considering all the people who agreed that I’d probably get deathly ill, I can only assume it’s the vitamins that are saving me so far. And the local yogurt, which apparently gets a big thumbs up from other travelers.
And it’s delicious!
I can’t believe how quickly I’m taking to my new lifestyle. I’m trying to adjust my sleep schedule to Cairo time, meaning you stay up in cafés smoking sheesha and drinking coffee til 1:30 am, get home around 2 or 2:30, and finally, around 3 or 4, decide it’s about time to start thinking about bed. I’ve never been much of a night owl but this is suiting me surprisingly well – undoubtedly because of the 6-hour time difference. The only potential problem is that I love the morning, so I’m still determined to be up by 9 or 10 am! This is the first time I’m trying it, and you know what, I feel surprisingly good.
Alhumdilallah!
There are a few things here that could use some explaining. First of all, I’d like to explain the coffee mentioned in regards to the cafés. Arab coffee is nothing like American coffee, and thank goodness for that! I’ve never been much of a coffee drinker back home, but I can’t get enough of it here. Well…this is a turn of phrase. You most certainly can get enough of it. You see, Arabic coffee, called aHwa (aspirated “h”) in Cairo, and qaHwa in the rest of the Arab world (where they actually PRONOUNCE the letter “qaf,” unlike the Egyptians who skip it entirely) is this thick, somewhat chalky, flavorful kick in the face. But it’s delicious! It’s a little like espresso, in that it is served in very small cups about the size of a shot glass, and you take tiny little sips. I’m hoping to get an Arabic coffee pot to take home with me, and some coffee grounds too, as they’re going to be cheaper and better here than anywhere back home.
The only thing about the coffee here is, I’m used to the Arabic coffee that my professor from back home, Khalil, used to make when students come to visit him. He always puts a few drops of orange water in it, and you would be surprised how delicious it is and how much of a difference it makes! So potentially I’ll just have to buy some orange extract and carry it around to cafés with me. Khalil has spoiled me ;)
Now the other thing to explain is: Alhumdilallah! Alhumdilallah is a phrase you will hear over and over in the Arab world. It technically means “Praise be to God,” but is not necessarily used in a religious context. You can say Alhumdilallah for almost anything:
Sentence: “I passed my exam!”
Response: “Alhumdilallah!”
S: “How are you doing today?”
R: “Alhumdilallah!”
S: “Do you want any more koshari?”
R: “ALHUMDILALLAH!” (that means, no thanks, I’m full)
So as you can imagine, it gets used fairly often.
We have a new guest staying with us for a couple days, which means (alhumdilallah!), I am no longer the Cairo newbie. His name is Tim and he’s coming to AUC for grad school, studying International Human Rights Law. Good choice, and there is hardly any better place than the Middle East to learn about IHRL; plus AUC has one of the best programs you can find. They’re real big on political science and international relations – which is why I am here too!
Tim found Nicole’s blog online before he came, contacted her and said he was coming to Egypt, and subsequently realized (as I had the day before) that it was the best decision of his life. With 3 months in Cairo under her belt and a posse of Egyptians at her back, Nicole is just the person you want to take care of you. She took him under his wing right away, just like she did for me. And let me tell you, when you’ve been traveling for more than 24 hours and have just arrived in a country you know nothing about, having someone to take you home and cook you some food (haha, or reheat it, as is the case with Nicole and I, who do not cook) is a godsend.
So Tim is just staying for a few days, living in Autumn’s room. Did I mention that Autumn arrived at the airport to meet me, only to jet set off to Paris for four days? I swear that girl never stops…haha, but good for her, and alhumdilillah it’s ONLY four days, so I’ll finally get to spend some time with my good old friend when she gets back on Sunday.
SO! I want to tell you about yesterday, my second day in Cairo. I woke up at 7 am, as you know from my last blog. And it caught up with me later. Big time.
In the morning i.e. around 11 am we went to the CSA, or Community Services Association, for something called “Cook’s Day Off” (I think I mentioned this yesterday). The CSA is an organization that caters to expats in Egypt, offering classes and groups to assuage loneliness and fill up your schedules, a free library, and a DVD library, among other things. I need to learn more about it, but my first impression is that it’s a little too touristy for my tastes; we got a free map from them, which was great, but all of the tourist attractions are blown up to an unmanageable size, which means little inlays of mosques and shopping centers block roads that anyone ACTUALLY living here would really enjoy being able to see. The attitude is also sort of “us and them;” certainly not “us VS. them,” but they go at living in Cairo with a passive attitude, not an assimilative attitude, and have the distinct voice of a somewhat detached outside observer. Touristy. Again, I don’t know much about it and could be entirely wrong, but this was just my first impression. I obviously have to spend more time there.
Cook’s Day off was great though! They had this little room with about 10 different tables in it, each one hosting pre-cooked meals (home-cooked, not TV-dinner) from all different cultures: Egyptian, French, Thai, Mexican, Italian, etc. They were cheap, too. I got a plate of pad thai (which wasn’t very good, sadly) for 15 pounds, which is about $2.50, and a plate of spring rolls (which were VERY good!) for about the same. And Nicole, little Egyptian that she is, got some Egyptian chicken and potatoes (badtadtas), also super delicious and super reasonable.
We dropped the food off at home, drank some water – it was HOT! – went back out and got me a new battery for my phone (which means it will now turn on, though it is still being obnoxiously picky about who it will call and whose calls it will accept in return), and then grabbed the subway to Zamalek, Nicole’s old neighborhood, to visit her acupressurist.
I think acupressure is a word…oh ok, spellcheck doesn’t object to acupressure, just to the –ist. Haha, basically it’s a sort of massage therapy that focuses on pressure points. It doesn’t feel so pleasant while it’s going on but afterwards it’s supposed to have amazing results. Nicole’s family is pretty big on holistic medicine, and though I don’t know much about it I figured, hey, I’m in Cairo, everything is cheap, maybe I’ll try it too.
Oh but I almost forgot! We made two new friends on the train. We’ve been taking the train as often as possible, [1] because it’s super cheap, one pound for a ticket which is about 15 cents USC, and [2] because tourists generally don’t take the train, which proves we are not tourists, and [3] because it is such a great place to start conversations! People will just come up and talk to you, like yesterday, when these two giggling hijabi girls sat down next to us and, as Nicole described it, “adopted” us. They were probably about 14 or 15, and spoke VERY little English, and since we speak VERY little Arabic, it was hilarious. We mostly communicated in laughs and smiles and pantomimes, but we did manage to exchange phone numbers, and they called Nicole and I about 10 times within the course of the day! Just to say hi I guess. Eventually we had to stop answering because we ran out of 3miya words and didn’t have anything to say! We’re going to try and call them sometime soon and ask one of our Egyptian friends to come translate for us. It was fun, though.
So back to the massage. For about $20 USC I got an acupressure consultation and a first visit. I’m not completely won over – I think he may have messed up my TMJ a little, to be honest – but the man who did it was so nice! He’s a young Indian man, probably about 35 or so, and thus speaks perfect English (alhumdilallah!) He came to Cairo on contract with the Egyptian army to teach the soldiers yoga. Surprisingly progressive, wouldn’t you agree? The contract having run out, he decided to stay for another 3 months or so and freelance before he heads home. I don’t particularly want another visit, but I’m thinking about going with Nicole when she returns next week just to say hi. In Egypt you’re allowed to go somewhere with the sole purpose of saying hello, so it doesn’t sound as weird as it would be in the US.
By this point in the day, I was wilting. I actually fell asleep during Nicole’s consultation, and then almost again during mine! So although we were planning on running some errands post-visit, we decided to head home instead, meeting Tim at the station on the way.
In order to celebrate Tim’s first day in Cairo, we [1] took a much-needed nap in the evening, and [2] had a nice, relaxing night out at one of Nicole’s favorite Maadi (i.e. in our neighborhood) cafés. It was just the kind of night I like best; we sat around a little square table, drank freshly ground mango juice and aHwa (coffee!), smoked apple sheesha, and just talked.
NOTE: For those who are horrified at the idea of smoking, the point of sheesha is that you don’t inhale (I know I sound like Bill Clinton but it’s true). Sheesha is flavored tobacco cut with water, so it’s much weaker than cigarettes, smells AWESOME, and is smoked in social settings like cafés, generally with a few people sharing one hookah. It is technically against the Muslim religion to smoke, so if they do it you know it can’t be TOO bad ;)
Nicole and I worked on our Egyptian 3miya (colloquial), and are in the process of compiling a list of useful phrases that we really should memorize, such as: I want, Excuse me, the check, keys, finished, don’t worry, and other things like that. It’s so much more fun learning a new language when you have a buddy to help you practice. And our friend Rami came and met with us later, so we got to drill him on some of the phrases we were confused about. According to Rami, I have two weeks to stop using fas-Ha before he has the right to mock me mercilessly.
With this deadline in mind I’m going to be doing a lot of studying.
Around 1:30 Tim and I were about to collapse, so we took a cab home, proceeded to stay up until 3 in spite of being exhausted (Egypt does something to you, man! It’s impossible to go to bed at a decent hour!), and finally went to sleep.
Alhumdilallah :)
Now then, our plans for today include: Getting a new phone and sim card for Tim; hopefully meeting up with my friend Andrew Byrd, who is also from UD and also in Cairo and who I haven’t seen yet (not ok!); and picking up Cory from the airport - which gets an unbelievably huge ALHUMDILALLAH. He’ll be staying in Cairo with us for 8 days, and considering I haven’t seen him in almost three months, I’m just about bursting. And because he’s coming from Syria, i.e. from the same time zone, it means he won’t be jet lagged! And the flight is only an hour or two. So we’re thinking we’ll head to Khan al-Khalili, the big souk (open bizarre or market) in Al Azhar, to look around and visit a café that is supposed to be really nice. I love souks (the proper pluralization is actually eh-soo-ek in Arabic), so I’m really pumped about that.
So I suppose my conclusion for today is this: I know I’ve only been here three days, but I absolutely love Egypt. The people are friendly and hospitable, the lifestyle is somewhat lackadaisical but very sensible when you think about it (sleep through the hottest part of the day and stay up all night – how can you beat that?), and I’ve already made so many new friends that in spite of really, really missing everyone back home I never have to worry about feeling lonely. And possibly the most thrilling part of all is, you’re always learning something new here. A new word, a new activity, a new neighborhood, a new person – everything is new and interesting and exciting. It’s a constant brain challenge, but one that every person you meet will be willing to help you with.
Hmm, well that reminds me of one of my favorite songs:
Everybody will help you
Some people are very kind…
If you haven’t heard it, look it up. It’s called, “I’ll Keep it with Mine,” by Nico, written by none other than the famous Bob Dylan. Check it out, it’s great!
So, have I convinced any of you to come visit yet? I’m coming clean about the purpose of this blog: I am slowly seducing all of my Americans until you agree to come to this glorious country with me!
I love you all. Let me know if it’s working.
And it’s delicious!
I can’t believe how quickly I’m taking to my new lifestyle. I’m trying to adjust my sleep schedule to Cairo time, meaning you stay up in cafés smoking sheesha and drinking coffee til 1:30 am, get home around 2 or 2:30, and finally, around 3 or 4, decide it’s about time to start thinking about bed. I’ve never been much of a night owl but this is suiting me surprisingly well – undoubtedly because of the 6-hour time difference. The only potential problem is that I love the morning, so I’m still determined to be up by 9 or 10 am! This is the first time I’m trying it, and you know what, I feel surprisingly good.
Alhumdilallah!
There are a few things here that could use some explaining. First of all, I’d like to explain the coffee mentioned in regards to the cafés. Arab coffee is nothing like American coffee, and thank goodness for that! I’ve never been much of a coffee drinker back home, but I can’t get enough of it here. Well…this is a turn of phrase. You most certainly can get enough of it. You see, Arabic coffee, called aHwa (aspirated “h”) in Cairo, and qaHwa in the rest of the Arab world (where they actually PRONOUNCE the letter “qaf,” unlike the Egyptians who skip it entirely) is this thick, somewhat chalky, flavorful kick in the face. But it’s delicious! It’s a little like espresso, in that it is served in very small cups about the size of a shot glass, and you take tiny little sips. I’m hoping to get an Arabic coffee pot to take home with me, and some coffee grounds too, as they’re going to be cheaper and better here than anywhere back home.
The only thing about the coffee here is, I’m used to the Arabic coffee that my professor from back home, Khalil, used to make when students come to visit him. He always puts a few drops of orange water in it, and you would be surprised how delicious it is and how much of a difference it makes! So potentially I’ll just have to buy some orange extract and carry it around to cafés with me. Khalil has spoiled me ;)
Now the other thing to explain is: Alhumdilallah! Alhumdilallah is a phrase you will hear over and over in the Arab world. It technically means “Praise be to God,” but is not necessarily used in a religious context. You can say Alhumdilallah for almost anything:
Sentence: “I passed my exam!”
Response: “Alhumdilallah!”
S: “How are you doing today?”
R: “Alhumdilallah!”
S: “Do you want any more koshari?”
R: “ALHUMDILALLAH!” (that means, no thanks, I’m full)
So as you can imagine, it gets used fairly often.
We have a new guest staying with us for a couple days, which means (alhumdilallah!), I am no longer the Cairo newbie. His name is Tim and he’s coming to AUC for grad school, studying International Human Rights Law. Good choice, and there is hardly any better place than the Middle East to learn about IHRL; plus AUC has one of the best programs you can find. They’re real big on political science and international relations – which is why I am here too!
Tim found Nicole’s blog online before he came, contacted her and said he was coming to Egypt, and subsequently realized (as I had the day before) that it was the best decision of his life. With 3 months in Cairo under her belt and a posse of Egyptians at her back, Nicole is just the person you want to take care of you. She took him under his wing right away, just like she did for me. And let me tell you, when you’ve been traveling for more than 24 hours and have just arrived in a country you know nothing about, having someone to take you home and cook you some food (haha, or reheat it, as is the case with Nicole and I, who do not cook) is a godsend.
So Tim is just staying for a few days, living in Autumn’s room. Did I mention that Autumn arrived at the airport to meet me, only to jet set off to Paris for four days? I swear that girl never stops…haha, but good for her, and alhumdilillah it’s ONLY four days, so I’ll finally get to spend some time with my good old friend when she gets back on Sunday.
SO! I want to tell you about yesterday, my second day in Cairo. I woke up at 7 am, as you know from my last blog. And it caught up with me later. Big time.
In the morning i.e. around 11 am we went to the CSA, or Community Services Association, for something called “Cook’s Day Off” (I think I mentioned this yesterday). The CSA is an organization that caters to expats in Egypt, offering classes and groups to assuage loneliness and fill up your schedules, a free library, and a DVD library, among other things. I need to learn more about it, but my first impression is that it’s a little too touristy for my tastes; we got a free map from them, which was great, but all of the tourist attractions are blown up to an unmanageable size, which means little inlays of mosques and shopping centers block roads that anyone ACTUALLY living here would really enjoy being able to see. The attitude is also sort of “us and them;” certainly not “us VS. them,” but they go at living in Cairo with a passive attitude, not an assimilative attitude, and have the distinct voice of a somewhat detached outside observer. Touristy. Again, I don’t know much about it and could be entirely wrong, but this was just my first impression. I obviously have to spend more time there.
Cook’s Day off was great though! They had this little room with about 10 different tables in it, each one hosting pre-cooked meals (home-cooked, not TV-dinner) from all different cultures: Egyptian, French, Thai, Mexican, Italian, etc. They were cheap, too. I got a plate of pad thai (which wasn’t very good, sadly) for 15 pounds, which is about $2.50, and a plate of spring rolls (which were VERY good!) for about the same. And Nicole, little Egyptian that she is, got some Egyptian chicken and potatoes (badtadtas), also super delicious and super reasonable.
We dropped the food off at home, drank some water – it was HOT! – went back out and got me a new battery for my phone (which means it will now turn on, though it is still being obnoxiously picky about who it will call and whose calls it will accept in return), and then grabbed the subway to Zamalek, Nicole’s old neighborhood, to visit her acupressurist.
I think acupressure is a word…oh ok, spellcheck doesn’t object to acupressure, just to the –ist. Haha, basically it’s a sort of massage therapy that focuses on pressure points. It doesn’t feel so pleasant while it’s going on but afterwards it’s supposed to have amazing results. Nicole’s family is pretty big on holistic medicine, and though I don’t know much about it I figured, hey, I’m in Cairo, everything is cheap, maybe I’ll try it too.
Oh but I almost forgot! We made two new friends on the train. We’ve been taking the train as often as possible, [1] because it’s super cheap, one pound for a ticket which is about 15 cents USC, and [2] because tourists generally don’t take the train, which proves we are not tourists, and [3] because it is such a great place to start conversations! People will just come up and talk to you, like yesterday, when these two giggling hijabi girls sat down next to us and, as Nicole described it, “adopted” us. They were probably about 14 or 15, and spoke VERY little English, and since we speak VERY little Arabic, it was hilarious. We mostly communicated in laughs and smiles and pantomimes, but we did manage to exchange phone numbers, and they called Nicole and I about 10 times within the course of the day! Just to say hi I guess. Eventually we had to stop answering because we ran out of 3miya words and didn’t have anything to say! We’re going to try and call them sometime soon and ask one of our Egyptian friends to come translate for us. It was fun, though.
So back to the massage. For about $20 USC I got an acupressure consultation and a first visit. I’m not completely won over – I think he may have messed up my TMJ a little, to be honest – but the man who did it was so nice! He’s a young Indian man, probably about 35 or so, and thus speaks perfect English (alhumdilallah!) He came to Cairo on contract with the Egyptian army to teach the soldiers yoga. Surprisingly progressive, wouldn’t you agree? The contract having run out, he decided to stay for another 3 months or so and freelance before he heads home. I don’t particularly want another visit, but I’m thinking about going with Nicole when she returns next week just to say hi. In Egypt you’re allowed to go somewhere with the sole purpose of saying hello, so it doesn’t sound as weird as it would be in the US.
By this point in the day, I was wilting. I actually fell asleep during Nicole’s consultation, and then almost again during mine! So although we were planning on running some errands post-visit, we decided to head home instead, meeting Tim at the station on the way.
In order to celebrate Tim’s first day in Cairo, we [1] took a much-needed nap in the evening, and [2] had a nice, relaxing night out at one of Nicole’s favorite Maadi (i.e. in our neighborhood) cafés. It was just the kind of night I like best; we sat around a little square table, drank freshly ground mango juice and aHwa (coffee!), smoked apple sheesha, and just talked.
NOTE: For those who are horrified at the idea of smoking, the point of sheesha is that you don’t inhale (I know I sound like Bill Clinton but it’s true). Sheesha is flavored tobacco cut with water, so it’s much weaker than cigarettes, smells AWESOME, and is smoked in social settings like cafés, generally with a few people sharing one hookah. It is technically against the Muslim religion to smoke, so if they do it you know it can’t be TOO bad ;)
Nicole and I worked on our Egyptian 3miya (colloquial), and are in the process of compiling a list of useful phrases that we really should memorize, such as: I want, Excuse me, the check, keys, finished, don’t worry, and other things like that. It’s so much more fun learning a new language when you have a buddy to help you practice. And our friend Rami came and met with us later, so we got to drill him on some of the phrases we were confused about. According to Rami, I have two weeks to stop using fas-Ha before he has the right to mock me mercilessly.
With this deadline in mind I’m going to be doing a lot of studying.
Around 1:30 Tim and I were about to collapse, so we took a cab home, proceeded to stay up until 3 in spite of being exhausted (Egypt does something to you, man! It’s impossible to go to bed at a decent hour!), and finally went to sleep.
Alhumdilallah :)
Now then, our plans for today include: Getting a new phone and sim card for Tim; hopefully meeting up with my friend Andrew Byrd, who is also from UD and also in Cairo and who I haven’t seen yet (not ok!); and picking up Cory from the airport - which gets an unbelievably huge ALHUMDILALLAH. He’ll be staying in Cairo with us for 8 days, and considering I haven’t seen him in almost three months, I’m just about bursting. And because he’s coming from Syria, i.e. from the same time zone, it means he won’t be jet lagged! And the flight is only an hour or two. So we’re thinking we’ll head to Khan al-Khalili, the big souk (open bizarre or market) in Al Azhar, to look around and visit a café that is supposed to be really nice. I love souks (the proper pluralization is actually eh-soo-ek in Arabic), so I’m really pumped about that.
So I suppose my conclusion for today is this: I know I’ve only been here three days, but I absolutely love Egypt. The people are friendly and hospitable, the lifestyle is somewhat lackadaisical but very sensible when you think about it (sleep through the hottest part of the day and stay up all night – how can you beat that?), and I’ve already made so many new friends that in spite of really, really missing everyone back home I never have to worry about feeling lonely. And possibly the most thrilling part of all is, you’re always learning something new here. A new word, a new activity, a new neighborhood, a new person – everything is new and interesting and exciting. It’s a constant brain challenge, but one that every person you meet will be willing to help you with.
Hmm, well that reminds me of one of my favorite songs:
Everybody will help you
Some people are very kind…
If you haven’t heard it, look it up. It’s called, “I’ll Keep it with Mine,” by Nico, written by none other than the famous Bob Dylan. Check it out, it’s great!
So, have I convinced any of you to come visit yet? I’m coming clean about the purpose of this blog: I am slowly seducing all of my Americans until you agree to come to this glorious country with me!
I love you all. Let me know if it’s working.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
My first (awesome) day in Cairo
Time travel is a trip. My poor body has done pretty well adjusting to the change, especially considering it’s only been two days since I arrived. I don’t necessarily feel tired, more confused – that kind of funny feeling when you’ve been awake too long and everything becomes a little lighter.
Oh, and utterly hilarious.
So here I am at 8:30 in the morning, drinking some mango pomegranate juice – Egypt has the BEST juice – munching on some pita with kiri cheese, and slowly working my way through my daily regimen of vitamins and various other pills. Let’s see: I’ve got your basic women’s once-a-day; I’ve got a “Big 100” dietary supplement, to replenish my B-vitamins; I’ve got Vitamin C 1000 tablets (time release); and finally, a little bottle of Acidophilus, a little greeting party for all the new Egyptian bacteria my body will be encountering in the next few weeks.
Much thanks to my friend Courtney for these; I recommend everyone know someone who works in a vitamin store.
It may seem like overkill to be downing four big horse pills every morning, but let me tell you: while I may not be weak of heart, I am certainly weak of stomach. If my trip to Tunisia the winter before last taught me anything it was this. And nothing puts a damper on an adventurous spirit like…well, you know.
So then, the plan for today! Nicole and I are hoping to do some grocery shopping this morning, seeing as we finally own silverware (our adventure to the kitchen supply store was hilarious; I’ll talk about that in a bit). There’s a big sale this morning in our neighborhood, called something cute like “Cook’s Day Off,” of pre-prepared meals, and we’re definitely hitting that up. The only drawback to Ramadan is that it makes it much harder to find food within the daylight hours, so we figure we should stock up on some provisions. It’s a little more considerate for non-Muslims to eat inside the house anyway; while the Muslims that are fasting certainly don’t expect non-Muslims to do the same, it’s a little rude to eat in front of someone when you know they’re hungry.
Haha, I think I’ll talk about the kitchen store now, as the story is just too funny. Something that Nicole and I realized it that while one dumb white girl in Cairo is obnoxious and frustrating, TWO dumb white girls is HILARIOUS. Our main method of communication is awkward giggling and dramatic pantomime and the locals seem to like that just fine. Personally I feel a little guilty, because Nicole’s 3miya is actually really good – or at least good enough that she can talk to people – and I feel like I’m throwing her back to “Hey look I’m a crazy foreign girl hee hee!” mode. But we’re having such a good time together that I don’t think she minds too much.
So yesterday I slept until 3:30 in the afternoon. Again: time travel is a b**ch. When I finally did manage to stumble out of bed, I took a shower – washing my hair with soap, because I didn’t have shampoo yet – and then Nicole and I headed to downtown Cairo. The public train system in Cairo is great; it’s one pound for a ticket, which, translated into American money, is about 20 cents. The stations are clearly marked, the train cars are dusty but comfortable, and the station is only a 10 minute walk from our apartment. I have a feeling I’ll be training it up quite a bit while I’m here.
Downtown was overwhelming to say the least, but very exciting. It’s loud and crowded and lively, a sort of dirtier, dustier, grittier version of New York City. I feel like gritty is a good word to describe the general feel of Cairo. The drivers here are absolutely insane; since I arrived I’ve been finding it hilarious that they even bother to put lines on the road, as more often than not you’ll find yourself zooming right down the median (most of the roads seem to be one-way, you’re not in an opposing lane, it’s not that crazy). And the round-abouts! While driving home from the airport, we actually went the wrong way around a VERY busy round-about. And yet, no one seems to think anything of it! The thing about Egyptian drivers is, they may be a little crazy, but they’re unbelievably observant. They know exactly what they’re doing. So for all the near-misses and angry words, I’ve been told you’ll seldom see an actual crash.
I digress. So Nicole and I went downtown, and as soon as we got there we realized we were desperately hungry, considering we had slept til afternoon and neither of us had eaten since the night before. To make up for the previous dinner of Pizza Hut – not so Egyptian – Nicole decided I should try her favorite Egyptian meal: Koshari.
Apparently there is nothing more Egyptian than koshari; it’s the national favorite.
[NOTE: I realize I’m making several broad generalizations throughout this blog. They’re based on my very limited experience here, things I’ve heard from friends and my roommate, and things I’ve been told by the Egyptians I’ve met so far. I am obviously no expert on Egyptian culture and thus no one should take these generalizations at absolute face value, but it seems to me they’re pretty truthful, and apply to at least a large number of people. So please don’t be offended or off-put by them]
Unfortunately, Iftar had just began, and everyone was at home with their families breaking the fast; meaning Nicole’s favorite koshari shop was closed. Never daunted, we went to another place she knew of – which was also closed. Somewhat daunted, we stood outside, staring forlornly into the empty restaurant and speculating on what to do, when a man came up to us and asked, in very nice English, “You are looking for koshari?”
Why yes! we replied. But everything is closed!
“I know where another koshari shop is,” he said. “You go up the street, and take a left when you see the big building, and then go all the way down that street, and then – you know what, I’ll just take you. Come on!”
Now, this is a phenomenon that I remember from Tunisia: if you ask someone for directions – or even if you don’t, like in our case – more likely than not they’ll just take you there themselves. Arab culture stresses friendliness, helpfulness, and extroversion much more than our own individualistic American society does, and oftentimes people seem to enjoy going out of their way to help the wayward traveler or citizen in need. I feel like it’s a sort of pay-it-forward mentality; when everyone in a country is willing to do everyone else a favor, eventually it’s got to come back to them.
Our new friend was named Saleem, and he is a an Arabic teacher at a local primary school. He asked us all sorts of things, about how we liked Cairo and how long we had been there (Nicole: two months. Me: One day!), and he made fun of my fas-ha and taught me some useful colloquial phrases, including:
Cool! (“mumtaz,” the modern standard version of “excellent,” does NOT fly in the real world)
That is too expensive!
And our favorite,
I am not a dumb tourist
Saleem brought us to another koshari place – which was ALSO closed. But we decided to make one last ditch effort, and ended up at an adorable little place that was mercifully open (it was probably 7 or 9 o’clock by now and we were STARVING) and had delicious koshari ready in a snap. Another great thing about Egypt is, Nicole and I ate for 10 pounds combined, which is about $2 USD (US dollars). So for $1 each we got a delicious meal, and they were so big we couldn’t even finish!
Our plan after this was to go to a certain café that Nicole likes, which apparently has really good mango juice. It’s all about the mango juice here. They’re in season, and what they do is chill the fruit, then put it through a processor and puree it, so you get this delicious, pulpy juice that you chew more than drink. If you’re a pulp person, it’s heaven.
Since he had dubbed himself our official tour guide, Saleem decided that he may as well find us a café as well. So instead of going to Nicole’s café he led us to this other place, a nice, quiet little spot that miraculously managed to block out the sounds of the city with the help of a ring of tall dark buildings. We sat outside and drank our mango juice and smoked some apple sheesha, and talked about all kinds of things: a lot of travel, and a little bit of politics, and general stories about our lives and our families and whatnot. Then Saleem, in true Arabic professor style, starting quizzing us on our alphabet! He made us write down 12 letters each, and pronounce them, and made up this outrageously challenging game with his carton of cigarettes:
“You see these letters?” he asked up. “M-A-R-L-B-O-R-O. You see each of those letters? Now, make up a story using those letters. The first word begins with a “M,” and you end with an “O.”
Of course neither of us could do it! But it’s an interesting brain teaser, and I think my goal by the end of my months here is to be able to win that game.
Saleem also told us about one of the most popular brands of local joke: Saidi jokes. A Saidi (pronounced “Sigh-ee-dee”) is a man from the South, and they’re sort of viewed like our blonds; in fact, one of the saidi jokes he told us was almost exactly the same thing as a blond joke I know from back home. This was my favorite one, though:
A Saidi wants to buy a television, so he comes to Cairo and goes into a shop. He finds the salesman and says, “Excuse me, I want to buy this television.” The salesman looks at him and says, “I’m sorry, we don’t sell to people from the South.”
The Saidi is terribly offended and leaves the store. He thinks, “How did the man know I’m from the South? It must be my clothing.” People in the South wear very distinctive clothing; long shirt-dresses and hats made from long pieces of fabric wrapped around their heads. So he changes his clothes; puts on jeans and a T-shirt and takes of his hat and comes back.
He goes to the salesman and says, I want to buy this TV.” The salesman looks at him for a minute and says, “No, no: we don’t sell to people from the South.” The Saidi is really upset; he leaves the store again. He thinks to himself, “I changed my clothes, why does he still know I’m from the South? It must be my accent.”
So he changes into shorts, puts on a wind-breaker, sunglasses, puts a backpack over his shoulder and carries a camera, and comes back speaking English. He goes to the salesman and says, in English, “I’d like to buy this TV.” The salesman looks him up and down, is quiet for a moment, and finally says, “I told you: we don’t sell to people from the South.”
The Saidi is furious. He says, “I changed my clothes, I took off my hat, I come here speaking English, and STILL you know I’m from the South! How do you know I am Saidi?!” The salesman sighs, and says, “Because that’s not a TV. That’s a washing machine!”
By this point it was getting kind of late, and we were both tired from our late night the evening before, so Saleem – unasked – gave us a ride back to Maadi (much more pleasant than the train.) We had him drop us off at the Metro market, exchanged numbers and said goodnight, and this is when our shopping adventure began.
I know more Arabic than I let on, but I’ve realized that knowing fas-ha is nothing here. And it’s really embarrassing to be caught using a fas-ha expression; like I’ve said, it’s just really nerdy. If I can think of a proper English-language comparison I’ll put it in here, but the best I can come up with now is a Minnesota accent (because they’re funny) or speaking in Shakespearian tongue in modern-day New York. The latter is probably more appropriate. The point is, I’m pretty much back to square one, which means I’ve been communicating mostly through smiles and pantomimes, and a couple of “chukran”s (“thank you”s) and “min fudlik”s (“please”s).
This is where it comes in handy to have a buddy. As I said at the beginning of the entry; one dumb foreign girl is awkward and annoying; but two together is HILARIOUS. Nicole and I think EVERYHING is funny! Whenever we don’t understand something we just giggle uncontrollably, and everyone here is kind enough that they just laugh along with us. Having a friend puts everything in perspective.
The best example of this was in the kitchen supply store, where we went to get some much-needed household amenities. Nicole and I also find everything really, really exciting, so we were prancing around the store ooh-ing and aah-ing over laundry baskets and dish racks, so the utter amusement of the various employees in the store. One of the younger employees, who looked like he was only a few years older than us, followed us around the whole time – ostensibly to help us, but honestly I think he was just amused. Every time we seemed interested in something he would try to carry it for us or find us another one we might like better, and it was the funniest thing in the world; trying to communicate in our small amount of Arabic, and his small amount of English, and our shared hand gestures. What made it even more ridiculous was that we bought far more than we could even carry – two big laundry baskets each, and a set of silverware, and a measuring cup, and some hangers, and a dish-drying rack, and a trash can…haha, we were just so excited! And we were having so much fun being ridiculous with the employees that we just gave in and had a great time.
Needless to say, we took a taxi home.
So now here I am, the time being 10 am, and I’ll probably grab a shower and think about starting my day. Sorry for the outrageously long post, but I’m having a wonderful time and I want to remember everything! Chances are I’ll get lazier as I go along, but insha allah I can keep up the steam and be a good little documentarian.
When I’m 80, I’ll undoubtedly want to remember that I bought a laundry basket and ate koshari on my first day in Cairo.
Oh, and utterly hilarious.
So here I am at 8:30 in the morning, drinking some mango pomegranate juice – Egypt has the BEST juice – munching on some pita with kiri cheese, and slowly working my way through my daily regimen of vitamins and various other pills. Let’s see: I’ve got your basic women’s once-a-day; I’ve got a “Big 100” dietary supplement, to replenish my B-vitamins; I’ve got Vitamin C 1000 tablets (time release); and finally, a little bottle of Acidophilus, a little greeting party for all the new Egyptian bacteria my body will be encountering in the next few weeks.
Much thanks to my friend Courtney for these; I recommend everyone know someone who works in a vitamin store.
It may seem like overkill to be downing four big horse pills every morning, but let me tell you: while I may not be weak of heart, I am certainly weak of stomach. If my trip to Tunisia the winter before last taught me anything it was this. And nothing puts a damper on an adventurous spirit like…well, you know.
So then, the plan for today! Nicole and I are hoping to do some grocery shopping this morning, seeing as we finally own silverware (our adventure to the kitchen supply store was hilarious; I’ll talk about that in a bit). There’s a big sale this morning in our neighborhood, called something cute like “Cook’s Day Off,” of pre-prepared meals, and we’re definitely hitting that up. The only drawback to Ramadan is that it makes it much harder to find food within the daylight hours, so we figure we should stock up on some provisions. It’s a little more considerate for non-Muslims to eat inside the house anyway; while the Muslims that are fasting certainly don’t expect non-Muslims to do the same, it’s a little rude to eat in front of someone when you know they’re hungry.
Haha, I think I’ll talk about the kitchen store now, as the story is just too funny. Something that Nicole and I realized it that while one dumb white girl in Cairo is obnoxious and frustrating, TWO dumb white girls is HILARIOUS. Our main method of communication is awkward giggling and dramatic pantomime and the locals seem to like that just fine. Personally I feel a little guilty, because Nicole’s 3miya is actually really good – or at least good enough that she can talk to people – and I feel like I’m throwing her back to “Hey look I’m a crazy foreign girl hee hee!” mode. But we’re having such a good time together that I don’t think she minds too much.
So yesterday I slept until 3:30 in the afternoon. Again: time travel is a b**ch. When I finally did manage to stumble out of bed, I took a shower – washing my hair with soap, because I didn’t have shampoo yet – and then Nicole and I headed to downtown Cairo. The public train system in Cairo is great; it’s one pound for a ticket, which, translated into American money, is about 20 cents. The stations are clearly marked, the train cars are dusty but comfortable, and the station is only a 10 minute walk from our apartment. I have a feeling I’ll be training it up quite a bit while I’m here.
Downtown was overwhelming to say the least, but very exciting. It’s loud and crowded and lively, a sort of dirtier, dustier, grittier version of New York City. I feel like gritty is a good word to describe the general feel of Cairo. The drivers here are absolutely insane; since I arrived I’ve been finding it hilarious that they even bother to put lines on the road, as more often than not you’ll find yourself zooming right down the median (most of the roads seem to be one-way, you’re not in an opposing lane, it’s not that crazy). And the round-abouts! While driving home from the airport, we actually went the wrong way around a VERY busy round-about. And yet, no one seems to think anything of it! The thing about Egyptian drivers is, they may be a little crazy, but they’re unbelievably observant. They know exactly what they’re doing. So for all the near-misses and angry words, I’ve been told you’ll seldom see an actual crash.
I digress. So Nicole and I went downtown, and as soon as we got there we realized we were desperately hungry, considering we had slept til afternoon and neither of us had eaten since the night before. To make up for the previous dinner of Pizza Hut – not so Egyptian – Nicole decided I should try her favorite Egyptian meal: Koshari.
Apparently there is nothing more Egyptian than koshari; it’s the national favorite.
[NOTE: I realize I’m making several broad generalizations throughout this blog. They’re based on my very limited experience here, things I’ve heard from friends and my roommate, and things I’ve been told by the Egyptians I’ve met so far. I am obviously no expert on Egyptian culture and thus no one should take these generalizations at absolute face value, but it seems to me they’re pretty truthful, and apply to at least a large number of people. So please don’t be offended or off-put by them]
Unfortunately, Iftar had just began, and everyone was at home with their families breaking the fast; meaning Nicole’s favorite koshari shop was closed. Never daunted, we went to another place she knew of – which was also closed. Somewhat daunted, we stood outside, staring forlornly into the empty restaurant and speculating on what to do, when a man came up to us and asked, in very nice English, “You are looking for koshari?”
Why yes! we replied. But everything is closed!
“I know where another koshari shop is,” he said. “You go up the street, and take a left when you see the big building, and then go all the way down that street, and then – you know what, I’ll just take you. Come on!”
Now, this is a phenomenon that I remember from Tunisia: if you ask someone for directions – or even if you don’t, like in our case – more likely than not they’ll just take you there themselves. Arab culture stresses friendliness, helpfulness, and extroversion much more than our own individualistic American society does, and oftentimes people seem to enjoy going out of their way to help the wayward traveler or citizen in need. I feel like it’s a sort of pay-it-forward mentality; when everyone in a country is willing to do everyone else a favor, eventually it’s got to come back to them.
Our new friend was named Saleem, and he is a an Arabic teacher at a local primary school. He asked us all sorts of things, about how we liked Cairo and how long we had been there (Nicole: two months. Me: One day!), and he made fun of my fas-ha and taught me some useful colloquial phrases, including:
Cool! (“mumtaz,” the modern standard version of “excellent,” does NOT fly in the real world)
That is too expensive!
And our favorite,
I am not a dumb tourist
Saleem brought us to another koshari place – which was ALSO closed. But we decided to make one last ditch effort, and ended up at an adorable little place that was mercifully open (it was probably 7 or 9 o’clock by now and we were STARVING) and had delicious koshari ready in a snap. Another great thing about Egypt is, Nicole and I ate for 10 pounds combined, which is about $2 USD (US dollars). So for $1 each we got a delicious meal, and they were so big we couldn’t even finish!
Our plan after this was to go to a certain café that Nicole likes, which apparently has really good mango juice. It’s all about the mango juice here. They’re in season, and what they do is chill the fruit, then put it through a processor and puree it, so you get this delicious, pulpy juice that you chew more than drink. If you’re a pulp person, it’s heaven.
Since he had dubbed himself our official tour guide, Saleem decided that he may as well find us a café as well. So instead of going to Nicole’s café he led us to this other place, a nice, quiet little spot that miraculously managed to block out the sounds of the city with the help of a ring of tall dark buildings. We sat outside and drank our mango juice and smoked some apple sheesha, and talked about all kinds of things: a lot of travel, and a little bit of politics, and general stories about our lives and our families and whatnot. Then Saleem, in true Arabic professor style, starting quizzing us on our alphabet! He made us write down 12 letters each, and pronounce them, and made up this outrageously challenging game with his carton of cigarettes:
“You see these letters?” he asked up. “M-A-R-L-B-O-R-O. You see each of those letters? Now, make up a story using those letters. The first word begins with a “M,” and you end with an “O.”
Of course neither of us could do it! But it’s an interesting brain teaser, and I think my goal by the end of my months here is to be able to win that game.
Saleem also told us about one of the most popular brands of local joke: Saidi jokes. A Saidi (pronounced “Sigh-ee-dee”) is a man from the South, and they’re sort of viewed like our blonds; in fact, one of the saidi jokes he told us was almost exactly the same thing as a blond joke I know from back home. This was my favorite one, though:
A Saidi wants to buy a television, so he comes to Cairo and goes into a shop. He finds the salesman and says, “Excuse me, I want to buy this television.” The salesman looks at him and says, “I’m sorry, we don’t sell to people from the South.”
The Saidi is terribly offended and leaves the store. He thinks, “How did the man know I’m from the South? It must be my clothing.” People in the South wear very distinctive clothing; long shirt-dresses and hats made from long pieces of fabric wrapped around their heads. So he changes his clothes; puts on jeans and a T-shirt and takes of his hat and comes back.
He goes to the salesman and says, I want to buy this TV.” The salesman looks at him for a minute and says, “No, no: we don’t sell to people from the South.” The Saidi is really upset; he leaves the store again. He thinks to himself, “I changed my clothes, why does he still know I’m from the South? It must be my accent.”
So he changes into shorts, puts on a wind-breaker, sunglasses, puts a backpack over his shoulder and carries a camera, and comes back speaking English. He goes to the salesman and says, in English, “I’d like to buy this TV.” The salesman looks him up and down, is quiet for a moment, and finally says, “I told you: we don’t sell to people from the South.”
The Saidi is furious. He says, “I changed my clothes, I took off my hat, I come here speaking English, and STILL you know I’m from the South! How do you know I am Saidi?!” The salesman sighs, and says, “Because that’s not a TV. That’s a washing machine!”
By this point it was getting kind of late, and we were both tired from our late night the evening before, so Saleem – unasked – gave us a ride back to Maadi (much more pleasant than the train.) We had him drop us off at the Metro market, exchanged numbers and said goodnight, and this is when our shopping adventure began.
I know more Arabic than I let on, but I’ve realized that knowing fas-ha is nothing here. And it’s really embarrassing to be caught using a fas-ha expression; like I’ve said, it’s just really nerdy. If I can think of a proper English-language comparison I’ll put it in here, but the best I can come up with now is a Minnesota accent (because they’re funny) or speaking in Shakespearian tongue in modern-day New York. The latter is probably more appropriate. The point is, I’m pretty much back to square one, which means I’ve been communicating mostly through smiles and pantomimes, and a couple of “chukran”s (“thank you”s) and “min fudlik”s (“please”s).
This is where it comes in handy to have a buddy. As I said at the beginning of the entry; one dumb foreign girl is awkward and annoying; but two together is HILARIOUS. Nicole and I think EVERYHING is funny! Whenever we don’t understand something we just giggle uncontrollably, and everyone here is kind enough that they just laugh along with us. Having a friend puts everything in perspective.
The best example of this was in the kitchen supply store, where we went to get some much-needed household amenities. Nicole and I also find everything really, really exciting, so we were prancing around the store ooh-ing and aah-ing over laundry baskets and dish racks, so the utter amusement of the various employees in the store. One of the younger employees, who looked like he was only a few years older than us, followed us around the whole time – ostensibly to help us, but honestly I think he was just amused. Every time we seemed interested in something he would try to carry it for us or find us another one we might like better, and it was the funniest thing in the world; trying to communicate in our small amount of Arabic, and his small amount of English, and our shared hand gestures. What made it even more ridiculous was that we bought far more than we could even carry – two big laundry baskets each, and a set of silverware, and a measuring cup, and some hangers, and a dish-drying rack, and a trash can…haha, we were just so excited! And we were having so much fun being ridiculous with the employees that we just gave in and had a great time.
Needless to say, we took a taxi home.
So now here I am, the time being 10 am, and I’ll probably grab a shower and think about starting my day. Sorry for the outrageously long post, but I’m having a wonderful time and I want to remember everything! Chances are I’ll get lazier as I go along, but insha allah I can keep up the steam and be a good little documentarian.
When I’m 80, I’ll undoubtedly want to remember that I bought a laundry basket and ate koshari on my first day in Cairo.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
First post!
Hey all! This is my first post on my brand spankin' new "Carolyn in Cairo" blog. I semi stole the name from my awesome new roommate Nicole, who began the "Nicole in Cairo" phenomenon, but seeing as she is awesome, and seeing as I AM in Cairo, I think she'll forgive me.
I'm still working on documenting the events of the past 24 hours, but I will say this:
1: I LOVE it here already!!! For reasons that will be explained in more detail later
2: I cannot believe how much has happened just in the past 24 hours - and additionally, how much happens after the hour of 10 pm (Cairo doesn't sleep!)
3: I need to study Arabic. Real bad. And 3miya (Egyptian colloquial), not fas-ha (aka modern standard, or academic, arabic), because fas-ha makes you sound like a tooootal nerd. And no one can understand you.
But for now, Nicole and I are running to get some take-out and a new battery for my sweet little Tunisian pay-to-go, so I'll tell you all about the past few days when I get back! I love you all and hope everything's well in the old country!
Also, I'm in the process of setting up a Skype account and I'll blog my screen name or whatever it is that you use to Skype, so anyone with an account let me know and we can chat it up! Keep in mind, I'm 6 hours ahead, so that throws things off a little.
Much love!
Carolyn
NOTE: Skype account set up! My skype name is carolyn.cleveland. Check me out!
I'm still working on documenting the events of the past 24 hours, but I will say this:
1: I LOVE it here already!!! For reasons that will be explained in more detail later
2: I cannot believe how much has happened just in the past 24 hours - and additionally, how much happens after the hour of 10 pm (Cairo doesn't sleep!)
3: I need to study Arabic. Real bad. And 3miya (Egyptian colloquial), not fas-ha (aka modern standard, or academic, arabic), because fas-ha makes you sound like a tooootal nerd. And no one can understand you.
But for now, Nicole and I are running to get some take-out and a new battery for my sweet little Tunisian pay-to-go, so I'll tell you all about the past few days when I get back! I love you all and hope everything's well in the old country!
Also, I'm in the process of setting up a Skype account and I'll blog my screen name or whatever it is that you use to Skype, so anyone with an account let me know and we can chat it up! Keep in mind, I'm 6 hours ahead, so that throws things off a little.
Much love!
Carolyn
NOTE: Skype account set up! My skype name is carolyn.cleveland. Check me out!
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